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Existing-Home Sales Rose Up in March

April 21, 2011

Home resales volumes bounced back in March, a hopeful sign for recovery in the housing market, but prices continued to decline, according to Reuters.

Existing home sales in March rose 3.7 percent from February to an annual rate of 5.1 million units, the National Association of Realtors said. Economists had expected a smaller increase to a 5.0 million-unit pace.

But the median home price fell 5.9 percent in March from a year earlier to $159,600.

"The underlying trend for existing home sales is improving, but only at a gradual pace," Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays Capital in New York, told Reuters. "Demand should gradually firm as labor market conditions continue to improve."

With U.S. unemployment beginning to fall and significant job growth seen in February and March, economists are cautiously optimistic home sales will continue to rise as the year progresses, putting a floor under prices.

Analysts also cited a jump last week in demand for home loans as boding well for the housing recovery. The Mortgage Bankers Association said that its purchase loan index rose 10 percent to its highest since early December.

"The housing market in terms of demand has bottomed. We have some reason for modest optimism as we go through 2011," Peter Muoio, a senior principal at real estate research firm Maximus Advisors in New York, told Reuters.